US disinvites China from joint military exercise

The Pentagon on Wednesday said that China will not be invited to the upcoming Pacific military exercise due to its continued militarization of the South China Sea.

"The United States is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Pentagon spokesman Lt Col. Christopher Logan said in a written statement. "China's continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serve to raise tensions and destabilize the region."

Logan noted that as an initial response to China's militarization of the South China Sea, the U.S. disinvited the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, the naval warfare branch of the Chinese military, from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise.

"China's behavior is inconsistent with the principles and purposes of the RIMPAC exercise," he added.

In addition, Logan claimed that the U.S. has "strong evidence" that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea, adding that China's landing of bomber aircraft at Woody Island was disquieting.

"While China has maintained that the construction of the islands is to ensure safety at sea, navigation assistance, search and rescue, fisheries protection, and other non-military functions the placement of these weapon systems is only for military use," he stated, urging Beijing to remove the military systems immediately from disputed South China Sea features.

Artificial islands in the South China Sea and China's military operations in the region continue to cause tension between the U.S. China and regional countries.